Recently, I learned firsthand why it's a bad idea to judge people prematurely (过早地).

    I'm a nursing supervisor, and my job is to evaluate workers' performances at the hospital.

    Kenny was a new employee. After weeks' probation (试用), I had to admit that he was clean, punctual and efficient.

    But he had this self-assured and energetic presence. He was a large man, both physically and socially — he was independent and strong. I worried that our hospital, which demanded teamwork, was not right for such a personality.

    We had a patient named Mary. At 94 years old, Mary was weak. She had outlived her husband and sisters.

    Mary had an obsessive (强迫性的) belief that someone had taken her purse. She searched for it all the time. Unless tied to her wheelchair, she would go through the door onto the street mindlessly searching and never giving up. She was often sitting in her wheelchair in the hallway, where she stopped everyone who came near.

    “Can you lend me a comb?” she would ask. “I've lost mine. It was in my red purse. Where is my purse?”

    Every day it was the same. We all knew Mary didn't have a purse, but we would answer: “Sure, if I see your purse I'll bring it back.”

    One afternoon, I saw Kenny walking down the hall with a grocery bag. He walked toward Mary in her wheelchair. He pulled out a red purse.

    Mary's old hands flew up to her face in a gesture of wonder and joy, and then flew out hungrily like a starved child taking bread. Mary grabbed the red purse. She held it for a moment, and then pressed it to her breast, rocking it like a baby.

    Kenny leaned over, unzipped the purse open and showed Mary a comb inside. Tears of joy poured down Mary's face.

    Instead of paying lip service like the rest of us, Kenny had made Mary's problem his problem. I had been wrong about Kenny.

    Childhood is a happy time, right? Not necessarily. Consider these facts.

Depression(抑郁症) may occur in as many as 1 in 33 children.

    Once a child has an episode of depression, he or she has a 50 percent chance of experiencing another episode in the next 5 years.

    Suicide(自杀) is the 6th leading cause of death for 5-to-15-year-olds.

    If your child experiences 5 or more of these signs or symptoms for at least 2 weeks, he or she may be experiencing depression or mental illness.

    Sometimes, a child who causes problems at school or at home may actually be depressed, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

    If you think your child may be depressed, it's important to have your child treated. Discuss your child's problems with his or her doctor. The doctor may suggest a referral to a children's psychologist or psychiatrist.

    We don't know how different our life will be in the future. We can only try to imagine it.

    At first we think about human relationship. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost everyday. We will make new friends through the Internet—even our husbands or wives will be met in this way. It will be much faster and easier for us. On the other hand, our relationships with people won't be as important as they are today—we will feel a little lonely.

    Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050.For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.

    Spending holidays will also be completely different. Traveling to other planets or to the moon will be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will use solar-powered cars, which will be much cleaner.

    We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn't true. We will pay more attention to protecting the environment. And, scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as health will be in better condition.

    Although we can't predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children's future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather hope about our future. We should be happy and believe good things will happen.

    "A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website" is the definition of "selfie" in the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, it wasn't even in the dictionary until August of last year. It earned its place there because people are now so obsessed with (对……痴迷) selfies—we take them when we try on a new hat, play with our pets or when we meet a friend whom we haven't seen in a while.

    But is there any scientific explanation for this obsession? Well, you should probably ask James Kilner, a neuroscientist(神经系统科学家) at University College London.

    Through our lifetime we become experts at recognizing and interpreting other people's faces and facial expressions. In contrast, according to Kilner, we have a very poor understanding of our own faces since we have little experience of looking at them—we just feel them most of the time.

    This has been proved in previous studies, according to the BBC.

    Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture. This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than we actually are. To further test how we actually perceive our own faces, Kilner carried out another study. He showed people different versions of their own portrait—the original, one that had been edited to look less attractive and one that was made more attractive—and asked them to pick the version which they thought looked most like them. They chose the more attractive version.

    But what does it say about settles? Well, isn't that obvious? Selfies give us the power to create a photograph—by taking it from various angles, with different poses, using filters (滤色镜) and so on—that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.

    "You suddenly have control in a way that you don't have in non-virtual(非虚拟的) interactions," Kilner told the Canada-based CTV News. Selfies allow you "to keep taking pictures until you manage to take one you're happy with", he explained.

    A new study, conducted by British company Mindlab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy (精确) and speed, The Telegraph reported.

    Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, "Switch off the music and concentrate!" Well, if that's the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.

    The company gave 26 participants（参与者）a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.

    The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International, told The Telegraph, "Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state... they are going to become more positive about the work."

    However, you may have a list of your favorite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.

    The Renaissance marks a period of human awakening. In this article we are going to explore the inventions during this period which have helped change the life and progress of mankind.

    Clock

    The first mechanical clock was invented in the early 1300's. Galileo, an Italian scientist, discovered the pendulum (钟摆) around 1602. The pendulum greatly improved the movement of the hands of a clock. The average error with the pendulum varied only by seconds each day. Before this the error was from 10 to 15 minutes a day.

    Eyeglasses

    In the late thirteenth century, paintings first appeared with people wearing or holding eyeglasses. From these paintings, we know that eyeglasses were invented in Italy. Around 1300 the Venetian Glassmaker's Guild made it illegal for cheap glasses to be made. By 1352, eyeglasses were only worn by well-educated rich men. In 1456, the invention of the printing press allowed books to become widespread. Once people owned books, reading glasses began to be seen in the hands of common people. In 1623, the Spanish invented the first graded eyeglasses.

    Flush toilet (抽水马桶)

    Sir John Harrington, godson to Queen Elizabeth, made the first flush toilet for himself and his godmother in 1596. He was teased by his friends and never made another one.

    In 1775, Alexander Cummings reinvented the flush toilet more commonly called the water closet. Two years later in 1777, Samuel Prosser applied for and received a patent for it.

    Wallpaper

    In 1496, the first paper factory came into operation in England. English artists soon make wallpaper for decoration. For the next 200 years England was a large producer of wallpaper for Europe. Before wallpaper was invented, only wealthy people could afford to decorate the walls of their houses.